Cars, Popes and White Smoke

By Karen Beishuizen

I had a day I will never forget:

I got in my car this morning to go to work. Car didn’t start. The new one. I texted work and told them I would be late. Garage lady came with starting cables because we thought it was the battery. Nope.

She came back with the diagnostic kit to see what the real problem was. She got the car started again, but 20 popes with white smoke came out of my exhaustion pipe. “That’s not good”, she said and mentioned the engine was not running on all cylinders.

I drove the car to a garage I knew and when I told the owner what happened, he said “head gasket”. I asked the price. He said between €1500 – €2000. I almost had a stroke.

I called the garage I bought the car from on Saturday. I gave the phone to the garage guy who spoke with them. He filled the cooling system with 3 liters of water and told me to bring the car back where I bought it from.

I drove on egg shells back to that garage, afraid popes and white smoke might escape out of my exhaustion pipe again. THE LONGEST FUCKING CAR RIDE IN MY LIFE! I was shaking like a leaf when I finally parked the car and walked inside.

Then the best part happened:

The new car I bought had no warranty and yet the salesman was so nice to take the car back after he looked and listened. He showed me several other cars and told me I could pick one in the same price range at no extra cost! He helped me get an indemnity certificate of the car I bought last Saturday and helped me put the new car I chose in my name.

I drove away from that car showroom with a great deal of gratitude. They didn’t have to do this but they did it anyway. Pure Class Customer Service.

I got home with this new blue ballroom blitz and didn’t make it to Tilburg to see Kip Moore in concert. But priorities come first. I hope this car is the real deal.

I had it with today. No more stress. Tomorrow is Ascension Day and that’s a holiday in Holland. Have a Good One!

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